2002 Holden Commodore SS review from Australia and New Zealand

Leakey coolant reservoir hose.

Noisy rear diff. when hovering just off idle.

Apart from those, it's been great.

I love this car, it is so much fun to drive and I'm a bit gutted I'm selling it, only due to underuse-downgrading to an '05 Magna ES ; (

I don't think fuel economy wise it's that bad for a large V8, sure if you cane it you will see the petrol needle drop quickly but around town it's not that bad IMHO. My missus 2001 RAV4 feels as thirsty at times! Mine is manual though (quite rare in NZ) and I run on either 95 or 98 unleaded exclusively. On the open road economy isn't improved that much, maybe that's because I'm driving a bit harder and NZ roads aren't like AUS and the UK (bendy and single laned i.e. crap.).

Don't get me wrong, the chevy powered SS is a fast car, but at low RPM's it feels a little lethargic. Once the revs are up then it's literally an untamed beast. Traction control is great. The most fun I have with this car is through roundabouts and turning quickly through intersections. Due to NZ police you can't drive at a comfortable speed on the open road, this car was not designed for 100km/h top speed.

The 6-spd manual feels like something out of a small truck, it's a real effort to handle and 6th gear seems like a waste of time on NZ roads, definitely only required when attempting land speed records (I don't blame the car for that though, just an observation).

I like the LS1, as mentioned it feels a bit sluggish at low rpms and rather agricultural at high rpm but all round it's a great package.

Mine has a big bore exhaust, which sounds great, I don't like the look for the factory twin exhausts, the big bore looks more manly in my opinion, which is important when you drive an SS!

The car was also optioned with red leather interior, which feels great and looks even better. There is a lot of wear though on the driver’s side where the seat belt makes contact with the leather.